CN113473423B

CN113473423B - Coverage enhancement and optimization related to normal mode switching

Info

Publication number: CN113473423B
Application number: CN202110899862.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: K·巴塔德; 徐浩; A·里科阿尔瓦里尼奥; P·加尔; M·北添; S·桑布瓦尼
Original assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Current assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Priority date: 2016-10-04
Filing date: 2017-08-08
Publication date: 2023-12-08
Anticipated expiration: 2037-08-08
Also published as: AU2017340229A1; US20180097541A1; CA3219887A1; CN113473423A; CN109792317A; SG11201901326TA; US20190393925A1; AU2017340229B2; US10454520B2; CN117459185A; BR112019006817A2; CN109792317B; US20210376876A1; US11128341B2; WO2018067228A1; CA3034818A1; EP3523900A1

Abstract

Coverage enhancement and optimization related to coverage mode switching are discussed for User Equipment (UE) that can switch between various Coverage Extension (CE) modes of operation and non-CE modes of operation. In such enhancements, paging uncertainty and delay may be reduced by simultaneously transmitting pages over multiple coverage modes available to the UE or using historical information over the multiple coverage modes. The random access procedure may be improved by providing an available CE mode random access procedure when the normal mode random access attempt fails and before declaring a radio link failure. Additional aspects include improving higher-level UEs by utilizing techniques for narrowband CE mode operation, including transmission repetition and gapless transmission scheduling on hopped narrowband frequencies, to improve coverage within normal mode operation.

Description

Coverage enhancement and optimization related to normal mode switching

The present application is a divisional application of the application patent application with application date 2017, 8-8, application number 201780061191.4, and name "coverage enhancement and optimization related to normal mode switching".

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The application requires enjoyment of the rights of the following applications: indian patent application No.201641033860 entitled "cover ENHANCEMENT AND NORMAL mode SWITCHING RELATED optimizatin", filed 10/4/2016; and U.S. non-provisional patent application No.15/670,697 entitled "COVERAGE ENHANCEMENT AND NORMAL mode SWITCHING RELATED operation," filed on 8/7 in 2017, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety as if fully set forth below and for all applicable purposes.

Technical Field

Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to coverage enhancement and optimization related to normal mode switching.

Background

Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These wireless networks may be multiple-access networks capable of supporting multiple users by sharing the available network resources. Such networks, which are typically multiple access networks, support communication for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. An example of such a network is the Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). UTRAN is a Radio Access Network (RAN) defined as part of a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile telephony technology supported by the third generation partnership project (3 GPP). Examples of multiple-access network formats include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, and single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks.

The wireless communication network may include a plurality of base stations or node bs that may support communication for a plurality of User Equipments (UEs). The UE may communicate with the base station via the downlink and uplink. The downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the UEs, and the uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the UEs to the base stations.

The base station may transmit data and control information to the UE on the downlink and/or may receive data and control information from the UE on the uplink. On the downlink, transmissions from a base station may experience interference due to transmissions from neighbor base stations or transmissions from other wireless Radio Frequency (RF) transmitters. On the uplink, transmissions from a UE may experience interference from uplink transmissions from other UEs communicating with a neighbor base station or from other wireless RF transmitters. This interference may degrade performance on both the downlink and uplink.

As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to grow, the likelihood of interference and congestion networks increases as more UEs access long-range wireless communication networks and more short-range wireless systems are deployed in communities. Research and development continue to advance UMTS technology not only to meet the ever-increasing demand for mobile broadband access, but also to improve and enhance the user experience with mobile communications.

Disclosure of Invention

In one aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: switching, at a UE in an idle mode, an overlay mode between an overlay enhanced (CE) mode and a non-CE mode; and transmitting a mode indicator from the UE, wherein the mode indicator identifies the coverage mode to which the UE is switched.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: detecting, at a base station, a paging occasion for a UE served by the base station; and transmitting a page associated with the paging occasion according to the CE mode of the UE and the non-CE mode of the UE.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: monitoring, by a UE, for pages according to one of a plurality of candidate coverage modes accessible to the UE; and initiate a communication in response to detecting the page.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: detecting data for uplink transmission at a UE in idle mode; performing a random access procedure according to the non-CE mode; determining a failure of the random access procedure; and performing the random access procedure according to the CE mode.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: detecting data for uplink transmission at a UE in idle mode; simultaneously performing a random access procedure according to the CE mode and the non-CE mode; in response to detecting a successful random access procedure on one of the CE mode or the non-CE mode, initiating a communication according to the respective one of the CE mode or the non-CE mode; and in response to detecting the successful random access procedure on both the CE mode and the non-CE mode, initiating communication according to the non-CE mode.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: detecting a channel coverage condition at the UE below a predetermined threshold level; signaling, by the UE, a coverage extension condition to a serving base station in response to the detecting; and receiving, by the UE, a duplicate copy of the transmission from the serving base station in response to the signaling the coverage extension condition, wherein the duplicate copy is repeated with a predetermined repetition factor.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: detecting data for uplink transmission at a UE, wherein the UE is configured for wideband baseband processing; determining, at the UE, a coverage condition supporting communication in a CE mode, wherein the CE mode includes narrowband hopping for transmission; and transmitting, by the UE, the data according to the narrowband hopping, wherein the UE transmits the data without gaps between hopping frequencies.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, a method of wireless communication includes: determining, at a UE, that a coverage status of the UE supports narrowband hopping for transmission, wherein the narrowband hopping includes uplink transmission of data without gaps between hopped frequencies; and responsive to the determination, indicating that the UE is configured with the capability to support the narrowband hopping without gaps.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: means for switching an overlay mode between a CE mode and a non-CE mode in a UE in an idle mode; and means for transmitting a mode indicator from the UE, wherein the mode indicator identifies the coverage mode to which the UE is switched.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: means for detecting, at a base station, paging occasions for UEs served by the base station; and means for transmitting a page associated with the paging occasion according to a CE mode of the UE and a non-CE mode of the UE.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: means for monitoring, by a UE, for pages according to one of a plurality of candidate coverage modes accessible to the UE; and means for initiating a communication in response to detecting the page.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: means for detecting data for uplink transmission at a UE in idle mode; means for performing a random access procedure according to a non-CE mode; means for determining a failure of the random access procedure; and means for performing the random access procedure according to a CE mode.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: means for detecting data for uplink transmission at a UE in idle mode; means for performing a random access procedure according to both the CE mode and the non-CE mode; means for initiating a communication according to one of the CE mode or the non-CE mode in response to detecting a successful random access procedure on the respective one of the CE mode or the non-CE mode; and means for initiating communication according to the non-CE mode in response to detecting the successful random access procedure on both the CE mode and the non-CE mode.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: means for detecting a channel coverage condition at the UE below a predetermined threshold level; means for signaling, by the UE, a coverage extension condition to a serving base station in response to the detecting; and means for receiving, by the UE, a duplicate copy of a transmission from the serving base station in response to signaling the coverage extension condition, wherein the duplicate copy is repeated with a predetermined repetition factor.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: means for detecting data for uplink transmission at a UE, wherein the UE is configured for wideband baseband processing; determining, at the UE, a coverage condition supporting communication in a CE mode, wherein the CE mode includes narrowband hopping for transmission; and means for transmitting, by the UE, the data according to the narrowband hopping, wherein the UE transmits the data without gaps between hopping frequencies.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: determining, at a UE, that a coverage status of the UE supports narrowband hopping for transmission, wherein the narrowband hopping includes uplink transmission of data without gaps between hopped frequencies; and means for indicating, in response to the means for determining, that the UE is configured with a capability to support the narrowband hopping without gaps.

In a further aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer readable medium having program code recorded thereon is provided. The program code further includes: code for switching an overlay mode between a CE mode and a non-CE mode at a UE in an idle mode; and code for transmitting a mode indicator from the UE, wherein the mode indicator identifies the coverage mode to which the UE is switched.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: code for detecting, at a base station, paging occasions for a UE served by the base station; and code for transmitting a page associated with the paging occasion according to a CE mode of the UE and a non-CE mode of the UE.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: code for monitoring, by a UE, for pages according to one of a plurality of candidate coverage modes accessible to the UE; and code for initiating a communication in response to detecting the page.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: code for detecting data for uplink transmission at a UE in idle mode; code for performing a random access procedure according to a non-CE mode; code for determining a failure of the random access procedure; and code for performing the random access procedure according to a CE mode.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: code for detecting data for uplink transmission at a UE in idle mode; code for performing a random access procedure according to both the CE mode and the non-CE mode; in response to detecting a successful random access procedure on one of the CE mode or the non-CE mode, initiating a communication according to the respective one of the CE mode or the non-CE mode; and code for initiating communication according to the non-CE mode in response to detecting the successful random access procedure on both the CE mode and the non-CE mode.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: code for detecting a channel coverage condition below a predetermined threshold level at the UE; signaling, by the UE, a coverage extension condition to a serving base station in response to the detecting; and means for receiving, by the UE, a duplicate copy of a transmission from the serving base station in response to signaling the coverage extension condition, wherein the duplicate copy is repeated with a predetermined repetition factor.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: code for detecting data for uplink transmission at a UE, wherein the UE is configured for wideband baseband processing; code for determining, at the UE, a coverage condition supporting communication in a CE mode, wherein the CE mode includes narrowband hopping for transmission; and code for transmitting, by the UE, the data according to the narrowband hopping, wherein the UE transmits the data without gaps between hopping frequencies.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication comprises: code for determining, at a UE, that a coverage status of the UE supports narrowband hopping for transmission, wherein the narrowband hopping includes uplink transmission of data without gaps between hopped frequencies; and means for indicating, in response to the determination, that the UE is configured with the capability to support the narrowband hopping without gaps.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to: switching, at a UE in an idle mode, an overlay mode between an overlay enhanced (CE) mode and a non-CE mode; and code for transmitting a mode indicator from the UE, wherein the mode indicator identifies the coverage mode to which the UE is switched.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to: detecting, at a base station, a paging occasion for a UE served by the base station; and transmitting a page associated with the paging occasion according to the CE mode of the UE and the non-CE mode of the UE.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to: monitoring, by a UE, for pages according to one of a plurality of candidate coverage modes accessible to the UE; and initiate a communication in response to detecting the page.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to: detecting data for uplink transmission at a UE in idle mode; performing a random access procedure according to the non-CE mode; determining a failure of the random access procedure; and performing the random access procedure according to the CE mode.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to: detecting data for uplink transmission at a UE in idle mode; simultaneously performing a random access procedure according to the CE mode and the non-CE mode; in response to detecting a successful random access procedure on one of the CE mode or the non-CE mode, initiating a communication according to the respective one of the CE mode or the non-CE mode; and in response to detecting the successful random access procedure on both the CE mode and the non-CE mode, initiating communication according to the non-CE mode.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to: detecting a channel coverage condition at the UE below a predetermined threshold level; signaling, by the UE, a coverage extension condition to a serving base station in response to the detecting; and receiving, by the UE, a duplicate copy of the transmission from the serving base station in response to signaling the coverage extension condition, wherein the duplicate copy is repeated with a predetermined repetition factor.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to: detecting data for uplink transmission at a UE, wherein the UE is configured for wideband baseband processing; determining, at the UE, a coverage condition supporting communication in a CE mode, wherein the CE mode includes narrowband hopping for transmission; and transmitting, by the UE, the data according to the narrowband hopping, wherein the UE transmits the data without gaps between hopping frequencies.

In a further aspect of the disclosure, an apparatus configured for wireless communication is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least one processor, and a memory coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to: determining, at a UE, that a coverage status of the UE supports narrowband hopping for transmission, wherein the narrowband hopping includes uplink transmission of data without gaps between hopped frequencies; and responsive to the determination, indicating that the UE is configured with the capability to support the narrowband hopping without gaps.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of examples in accordance with the present disclosure in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages will be described below. The disclosed concepts and specific examples may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present disclosure. Such equivalent constructions do not depart from the scope of the appended claims. The features of the concepts disclosed herein, both as to their organization and method of operation, together with the associated advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings. Each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the claims.

Drawings

A further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized by reference to the following drawings. In the drawings, similar components or features may have the same reference numerals. Furthermore, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a second label that is used to distinguish between similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description applies to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating details of a wireless communication system.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating a design of a base station and a UE configured in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a base station and a UE all configured in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks that are performed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks that are performed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks performed in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks that are performed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks that are performed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks that are performed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks that are performed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure.

Fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a base station configured in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

Fig. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a UE configured in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Rather, the detailed description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of the inventive subject matter. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these specific details are not required in every case and that, in some instances, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form for clarity of presentation.

The present disclosure relates generally to providing or participating in authorized shared access between two or more wireless communication systems (also referred to as wireless communication networks). In various embodiments, the techniques and apparatus may be used for wireless communication networks such as the following, as well as other communication networks: code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks, time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) networks, frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) networks, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, LTE networks, GSM networks. As described herein, the terms "network" and "system" may be used interchangeably.

An OFDMA network may implement radio technologies such as evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, IEEE 802.20, flash-OFDM, and the like. UTRA, E-UTRA and global system for mobile communications (GSM) are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). In particular, long Term Evolution (LTE) is a release of UMTS that uses E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, GSM, UMTS and LTE are described in documents provided from an organization named "third generation partnership project" (3 GPP), and cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization named "third generation partnership project 2" (3 GPP 2). These various radio technologies and standards are known or under development. For example, the third generation partnership project (3 GPP) is a collaboration between groups of telecommunications associations that aims to define the globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone specifications. 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a 3GPP project that aims at improving the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile telephony standard. The 3GPP may define specifications for next generation mobile networks, mobile systems and mobile devices. The present disclosure relates to evolution from LTE, 4G, 5G and beyond radio technologies with shared access to the radio spectrum between networks using some new and different radio access technologies or radio air interfaces.

In particular, 5G networks contemplate a wide variety of deployments, a wide variety of spectrum, and a wide variety of services and devices that may be implemented using a unified air interface based on OFDM. To achieve these goals, in addition to the development of New Radio (NR) technologies, further enhancements to LTE and LTE-a are considered. The 5G NR will be able to be extended to provide coverage as follows: (1) For ultra-high density (e.g., -1M nodes/km) ² ) Ultra-low complexity (e.g., 10s bits/second), ultra-low energy (e.g., 10+ years battery life), large-scale internet of things (IoT), and deep coverage with the ability to reach challenging sites; (2) Including mission critical controls with strong security for protecting sensitive personal, financial, or confidential information, ultra-high reliability (e.g., -99.9999% reliability), ultra-low latency (e.g., -1 ms), and users with a wide range of mobility or lack of mobility; and (3) enhanced mobile broadband including very high capacity (e.g., -10 Tbps/km) ² ) Limiting data rate (e.g. multipleGbps rate, user experience rate of 100+mbps), and depth perception with respect to advanced discovery and optimization.

The 5G NR may be implemented to use an optimized OFDM-based waveform with a scalable digital scheme (numerology) and Transmission Time Interval (TTI); has a common, flexible framework to efficiently multiplex services and features with a dynamic, low-latency Time Division Duplex (TDD)/Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) design; and advanced wireless technologies such as massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), robust millimeter wave (mmWave) transmission, advanced channel coding, and device-centric mobility. Scalability of the digital scheme in 5G NR (where scaling of subcarrier spacing) can efficiently address operating diverse services across diverse spectrum and diverse deployments. For example, in various outdoor and macro coverage deployments with implementations of less than 3GHz FDD/TDD, the subcarrier spacing may occur at 15kHz, e.g., over bandwidths of 1, 5, 10, 20MHz, etc. For other various outdoor and small cell coverage deployments of TDD greater than 3GHz, the subcarrier spacing may occur at 30kHz over an 80/100MHz bandwidth. For other various indoor wideband implementations, using TDD on the unlicensed portion of the 5GHz band, subcarrier spacing may occur at 60kHz over 160MHz bandwidth. Finally, for various deployments that transmit with mmWave components at TDD at 28GHz, subcarrier spacing may occur at 120kHz over 500MHz bandwidth.

The scalable digital scheme of 5G NR facilitates scalable TTI for different latency and quality of service (QoS) requirements. For example, shorter TTIs may be used for low latency and high reliability, while longer TTIs may be used for higher spectral efficiency. Efficient multiplexing of long and short TTIs allows transmissions to start on symbol boundaries. The 5G NR also contemplates a self-contained integrated subframe design in which uplink/downlink scheduling information, data, and acknowledgements are in the same subframe. The self-contained integrated subframes support communication in unlicensed or contention-based shared spectrum, adaptive uplink/downlink (which may be flexibly configured on a per cell basis to dynamically switch between uplink and downlink to meet current traffic demands).

Various other aspects and features of the disclosure are described further below. It should be apparent that the teachings herein may be embodied in a wide variety of forms and that any specific structure, function, or both being disclosed herein is merely representative and not limiting. Based on the teachings herein one skilled in the art should appreciate that an aspect disclosed herein may be implemented independently of any other aspects and that two or more of these aspects may be combined in various ways. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth herein. Furthermore, such an apparatus may be implemented or such a method may be practiced using other structure, functionality, or both in addition to or other than one or more of the aspects set forth herein. For example, the methods may be implemented as part of a system, apparatus, device, and/or as instructions stored on a computer-readable medium for execution on a processor or computer. Furthermore, an aspect may comprise at least one element of a claim.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a 5G network 100 including various base stations and UEs configured in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The 5G network 100 includes a plurality of base stations 105 and other network entities. A base station may be a station that communicates with UEs and may also be referred to as a base station, an access point, and so on. Each base station 105 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term "cell" can refer to this particular geographic coverage area of a base station and/or a base station subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.

A base station may provide communication coverage for a macrocell or a small cell (e.g., a picocell or a femtocell) and/or other types of cells. A macro cell typically covers a relatively large geographical area (e.g., a few kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription with the network provider. A small cell (e.g., a pico cell) will typically cover a relatively small geographic area and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription with the network provider. A small cell (e.g., a femto cell) will also typically cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home), and may provide limited access by UEs having an association with the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in the home, etc.), in addition to unrestricted access. A base station for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro base station. The base station for a small cell may be referred to as a small cell base station, pico base station, femto base station, or home base station. In the example shown in fig. 1, base stations 105D and 105e are conventional macro base stations, while base stations 105a-105c are macro base stations implemented with one of 3-dimensional (3D), full-dimensional (FD), or massive MIMO. The base stations 105a-105c utilize their higher dimensional MIMO capabilities to utilize 3D beamforming in both elevation and azimuth beamforming to increase coverage and capacity. The base station 105f is a small cell base station, which may be a home node or a portable access point. A base station may support one or more (e.g., two, three, four, etc.) cells.

The 5G network 100 may support synchronous operation or asynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the base stations may have similar frame timing, and transmissions from different base stations may be approximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations may have different frame timings, and transmissions from different base stations may not be aligned in time.

UEs 115 are dispersed throughout wireless network 100 and each UE may be stationary or mobile. A UE may also be called a terminal, mobile station, subscriber unit, station, etc. The UE may be a cellular telephone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a cordless telephone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) station, etc. UEs 115a-115d are examples of mobile smart phone type devices that access 5G network 100. The UE may also be a machine specifically configured for communication of the connection, including Machine Type Communication (MTC), enhanced MTC (eMTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), etc. UEs 115e-115k are examples of various machines configured for communication that access 5G network 100. The UE is able to communicate with any type of base station, whether macro base station, small cell, etc. In fig. 1, lightning (e.g., a communication link) indicates a wireless transmission between a UE and a serving base station (which is a base station designated to serve the UE on the downlink and/or uplink), or a desired transmission between base stations and a backhaul transmission between base stations.

In operation at 5G network 100, base stations 105a-105c use 3D beamforming and collaborative space techniques (e.g., coordinated multipoint (CoMP) or multi-connectivity) to serve UEs 115a and 115 b. Macro base station 105d performs backhaul communications with base stations 105a-105c and small cell base station 105f. Macro base station 105d also transmits multicast services that UEs 115c and 115d subscribe to and receive. Such multicast services may include mobile televisions or streaming video, or may include other services for providing community information, such as weather emergency or alerts (e.g., amber alerts or gray alerts).

The 5G network 100 also supports mission critical communications that utilize ultra-reliable and redundant links for mission critical devices (e.g., UE 115e, which is a drone). The redundant communication links with UE 115e include those from macro base stations 105d and 105e and small cell base station 105f. Other machine type devices, such as UE 115f (thermometer), UE 115G (smart meter), and UE 115h (wearable device), may be in a multi-hop configuration through 5G network 100 directly with base stations, such as small cell base station 105f and macro base station 105e, or by communicating with another user device relaying its information to the network, such as UE 115f transmitting temperature measurement information to smart meter (UE 115G), which is then reported to the network through small cell base station 105f. The 5G network 100 may also provide additional network efficiency (e.g., in a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) mesh network between UEs 115i-115k communicating with the macro base station 105 e) through dynamic, low latency TDD/FDD communications.

Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of a design of a base station 105 and a UE 115 (which may be one of the base stations and one of the UEs in fig. 1). At the base station 105, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source 212 and control information from a controller/processor 240. The control information may be for PBCH, PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH, EPDCCH, MPDCCH, etc. The data may be for PDSCH and the like. Transmit processor 220 may process (e.g., encode and symbol map) the data and control information, respectively, to obtain data symbols and control symbols. The transmit processor 220 may also generate reference symbols, e.g., for PSS, SSS, and cell-specific reference signals. A Transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the data symbols, the control symbols, and/or the reference symbols, if applicable, and may provide output symbol streams to Modulators (MODs) 232a through 232 t. Each modulator 232 may process a respective output symbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream. Each modulator 232 may further process (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain a downlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators 232a through 232t may be transmitted via antennas 234a through 234t, respectively.

At the UE 115, antennas 252a through 252r may receive the downlink signals from the base station 105 and may provide received signals to demodulators (DEMODs) 254a through 254r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition (e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective received signal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 may further process the input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. MIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all demodulators 254a through 254r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols (if applicable), and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 258 may process (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detected symbols, provide decoded data for the UE 115 to a data sink 260, and provide decoded control information to a controller/processor 280.

On the uplink, at UE 115, transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from data source 262 (e.g., for PUSCH) and control information from controller/processor 280 (e.g., for PUCCH). The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for a reference signal. The symbols from transmit processor 264 may be precoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable, further processed by the modulators 254a through 254r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmitted to the base station 105. At the base station 105, the uplink signals from the UE 115 may be received by the antennas 234, processed by the demodulators 232, detected by a MIMO detector 236 if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by the UE 115. Processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239 and the decoded control information to a controller/processor 240.

Controllers/processors 240 and 280 may direct the operation at base station 105 and UE 115, respectively. The controller/processor 240 and/or other processors and modules at the base station 105 may perform or direct the execution of various processes for the techniques described herein. The controller/processor 280 and/or other processors and modules at the UE 115 may also perform or direct the execution of the functional blocks shown in fig. 4-10 and/or other processes for the techniques described herein. Memories 242 and 282 may store data and program codes for base station 105 and UE 115, respectively. The scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink.

With the trend toward universal connections and the increase in more machines and devices with wireless capabilities for reporting data or other low-level communications, 3GPP has proposed new access technologies to accommodate more machine-type communications in enhanced machine-type communications (eMTC) and to accommodate the narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) standard in releases 12 and 13. In view of the background of these technologies, devices specifically designed for this type of communication may be lower cost, less complex devices that may be located in remote and barred places, thereby increasing the need for longer battery life and the ability to provide some communication coverage in very low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) environments. At the same time, these devices may not need to perform some of the more advanced functions of modern smartphones.

Thus, the proposed standards for access technologies such as eMTC and NB-IoT provide increased power management to improve power consumption and thus battery life, while using lower cost components. Narrowing the operating bandwidth allows lower cost components to facilitate communication in such low SNR environments while still allowing deployment in any LTE spectrum and coexistence with other LTE services within the same bandwidth. As suggested so far, eMTC operates with enhanced coverage within a 1.08MHz bandwidth, while NB-IoT operates with enhanced coverage within an even smaller 180kHz bandwidth, which also supports larger operating bandwidths, such as 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20MHz, compared to the normal mode of LTE. While the normal mode LTE network may support some similar operating bandwidth (e.g., 1 MHz), it does not support normal mode operation at the same lower SNR as eMTC and NB-IoT provide in their extended coverage capabilities.

While eMTC and NB-IoT are proposed to accommodate communications from lower cost and lower complexity devices, conventional LTE UEs may also be configured to utilize additional technology in order to extend the coverage of existing LTE communications. As such, a conventional LTE UE may include both a normal mode and a Coverage Extension (CE) mode, where the normal mode operates using typical coverage provided by standard LTE procedures (e.g., using PDCCH/PDSCH), and the CE mode provides extended coverage according to procedures with a more MTC pattern (e.g., using NPDCCH/NPDSCH or MPDCCH/mpsch with lower code rate/repetition).

In idle mode, such UEs may switch between CE mode and non-CE mode based on their channel quality measurements. However, the network may not know in which mode the UE is. This may cause problems when the network sends pages for the UE. While in normal mode, the network will send UE pages via PDCCH that idle mode UE will monitor, while in CE mode, the network will send UE pages in Narrowband PDCCH (NPDCCH). If the network does not know in which mode the UE is currently camping, it may send a page in the PDCCH that the UE is not monitoring, which may cause communication delays. Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to adapting a UE in a normal mode or CE mode without causing unnecessary communication delays.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating base stations 105c and 105e and UEs 115a-115d, all configured in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. UEs 115a-115d may switch between the various coverage modes depending on the communication conditions experienced at the UEs. In one example aspect, the UEs 115a-115d make the network aware of the particular mode in which the UE is located. In such an aspect, a new RRC connection may be established in which UEs 115a-115c send "virtual" non-access stratum (NAS) messages through the serving base stations (base stations 105c and 105 e), respectively, informing Mobility Management (MM) functional entities 300 and 301 of the change in coverage. MM functional entities 300 and 301 may include various nodes or functions performed by various nodes. For example, in LTE operation, MM functional entities 300 and 301 may include Mobility Management Entities (MMEs), while in 5G NR operation, mobility management functional units include network nodes or entities that provide both access and mobility management functions (AMFs) and Security Context Management Functions (SCMFs) and security anchor functions (SEAFs). Alternatively, instead of sending NAS messages, the UEs 115a-d may send RRC messages to the base stations 105c and 105e, respectively, indicating the new coverage mode, and the base stations 105c and 105e will generate NAS messages to the MM functional entities 300 and 301, respectively.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks that are performed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure. Example blocks will also be described with respect to base station 105 and UE115 as shown in fig. 11 and 12, respectively.

Fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a base station 105 configured in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. The base station 105 includes the structure, hardware, and components as shown for the base station 105 of fig. 2. For example, the base station 105 includes a controller/processor 240 that operates to execute logic or computer instructions stored in a memory 242 and to control the components of the base station 105 that provide the features and functions of the base station 105. The base station 105 transmits and receives signals via wireless radio units 1100a-t and antennas 234a-t under the control of the controller/processor 240. The wireless radio units 1100a-t include various components and hardware as shown in fig. 2 for the base station 105, including modulators/demodulators 232a-t, a MIMO detector 236, a receive processor 238, a transmit processor 220, and a TX MIMO processor 230. Fig. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a UE115 configured in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. The UE115 includes the structure, hardware, and components as shown for the UE115 of fig. 2. For example, UE115 includes a controller/processor 280 operative to execute logic or computer instructions stored in memory 282 and to control components of UE115 that provide features and functionality of UE 115. The UE115, under the control of the controller/processor 280, sends and receives signals via the wireless radio units 1200a-r and antennas 252 a-r. The wireless radio units 1200a-r include various components and hardware as shown in fig. 2 for the base station 105, including a modulator/demodulator 254a-r, a MIMO detector 256, a receive processor 258, a transmit processor 264, and a TX MIMO processor 266.

At block 400, the UE switches coverage mode between CE mode and non-CE mode. For example, the UE115 may enter a basement or other basement with very low coverage capability. Under the control of the controller/processor 280, the UE115 activates the CE mode switch 1201 stored in the memory 282. The execution environment of CE mode switch 1201 allows UE115 to switch from non-CE mode to CE mode.

At block 401, the UE transmits a mode indicator, wherein the mode indicator identifies a coverage mode to which the UE has switched. For example, in a first example aspect, the mode indicator may be a "virtual" NAS message sent from a UE (e.g., UE 115) to the base station 105. The UE115 may send "virtual" NAS messages using antennas 252a-r and wireless radios 1200 a-r. The base station may receive the "virtual" NAS message via antennas 234a-t and wireless radios 1100 a-t. The base station 105 will then forward a "virtual" NAS message to the MM functional entity 301 informing the MM functional entity 301 of the new coverage pattern for the UE115 c.

In a second example aspect, as described above, instead of the UE115 sending a "virtual" NAS message, the UE115 would send an RRC message to the base station 105 indicating a new coverage mode change (e.g., change to CE mode) for the UE 115. UE115 may send an RRC message using antennas 252a-r and wireless radios 1200 a-r. Based on receiving the RRC message from UE115, base station 105 will then activate NAS message generator 1101 stored in memory 242 under control of controller/processor 240. The execution environment of NAS message generator 1101 allows for generating NAS messages for transmission from base station 105 to MM functional entity 301 via wireless radio units 1100a-t and antennas 234a-t, which informs MM functional entity 301 of the changed coverage pattern. Accordingly, MM functional entity 301 will provide paging to UE115 using the appropriate coverage mode.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks that are performed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure. Example blocks will also be described with respect to base station 105 and UE 115 as shown in fig. 11 and 12, respectively. At block 500, the base station detects paging occasions for UEs being served by the base station. For example, MM function 300 (fig. 3) may send a paging message to base station 105 that identifies UE 115 with data for the downlink. Under the control of the controller/processor 240, the base station 105 may activate a paging occasion detector 1102 stored in memory 242. The execution environment of paging occasion detector 1102 allows the UE to detect paging occasions for paging UE 115.

At block 501, a base station may transmit a page associated with a paging occasion according to a CE mode of a UE and a non-CE mode of the UE. For example, under control of the controller/processor 240, the base station 105 may activate the paging generator 1103 stored in the memory 242. The execution environment of the paging generator 1103 allows the base station 105 to generate pages and may schedule paging transmissions for the UE 115 via the wireless radio units 1100a-t and antennas 234 a-t. Unlike the aspect shown in fig. 4, paging by the base station 105 may be enhanced to accommodate a particular mode in which the UE 115 is located without direct knowledge of the mode in which the UE 115 is located. When the network does not know the UE mode, the network may first page the UE 115 in its last known mode. For example, the execution environment of paging generator 1103 may allow base station 105 to page UE 115 in the last known mode of UE 115. Thus, if the last known mode is CE mode, the base station 105 will send a page according to CE mode. Otherwise, if the last known mode is a non-CE mode, the base station 105 will send a page according to the non-CE mode. If the UE 115 does not respond while being paged in this last known mode, the network pages in other available modes through the base station 105. In one aspect, the base station 105 may page the UE 115 multiple times in the last known mode before attempting a different mode.

In a second alternative implementation of block 501, the base station 105 may send the page on several of the available modes (e.g., both non-CE mode and CE mode). For example, the execution environment of paging generator 1103 may allow base station 105 to send paging transmissions to UE 115 via wireless radio units 1100a-t and antennas 234a-t in several of the available modes. This procedure reduces the delay in receiving a page by the UE 115 compared to the previous option of attempting the last known mode first sequentially. The network may choose to replicate pages in multiple coverage modes based on the capabilities of UE 115, the type of traffic from the communication, etc.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks performed in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. Example blocks will also be described with respect to base station 105 and UE 115 as shown in fig. 11 and 12, respectively. At block 600, the UE monitors for page-in according to one of a plurality of accessible candidate coverage modes. For example, under control of the controller/processor 280, the UE 115 activates the paging monitor 1202 stored in the memory 282. The execution environment of paging monitor 1202 allows UE 115 to monitor for pages only on the normal non-CE mode approach. Thus, whether UE 115 is operating in non-CE mode or CE mode, it will only monitor the normal non-CE mode approach for paging. The monitoring mode may be network-aware, and thus, the base station 105 may transmit pages for the UE 115 on the non-CE mode. For example, base station 105 may transmit pages via wireless radios 1100a-t and antennas 234a-t to be received by UE 115 via wireless radios 1200a-r and antennas 252 a-r.

In another example aspect, the network may page the UE in multiple available modes simultaneously. Thus, in addition to monitoring one mode in block 600, additional modes may be selected for additional monitoring. When the network knows that the UE 115 may be in any number of different modes, the base station 105 may use all those modes to send pages. This aspect allows UE 115 to detect pages, for example, in the executable environment of page monitor 1202, regardless of which mode it is in, which reduces delays that may exist in paging sequentially based on last known mode. The network may select a particular UE whose page is detected to be replicated based on UE capabilities, traffic type, etc.

At block 601, the UE initiates communication in response to detecting a page. For example, the UE 115 may initiate communication with the base station 115 via wireless radio units 1200a-r and antennas 252 a-r. In aspects in which the UE 115 monitors only a single mode, communication is initiated on that mode when a page is detected. In other aspects in which the UE 115 monitors multiple modes, communication is initiated on the mode in which paging is detected, or if paging is detected in multiple modes, the UE 115 may prioritize modes that provide higher data rates, greater bandwidth, better coverage, etc.

In aspects of the present disclosure, the UE 115 monitors for pages in more than one mode. The UE 115 may simply monitor all potentially available coverage pattern approaches that it has access to, or it may determine which of these patterns to monitor based on its performance expectations in each of the available patterns in the current channel conditions, power consumption considerations, and its ability to monitor multiple patterns simultaneously.

To monitor or perform RACH for paging, UEs such as UE 115 use various paging parameters (e.g., paging configuration, PRACH configuration, PUSCH/PDSCH common configuration, etc.) decoded from a System Information Block (SIB) message broadcast from a serving base station such as base station 105. For non-CE mode paging and PRACH, the parameters are sent on SIB1, while the paging parameters for CE mode paging are broadcast on SIB 1-BR. SIB1 is broadcast by base station 105 using a normal non-CE mode PHY channel, while SIB1-BR is broadcast by base station 105 using a CE mode PHY channel. However, the specific elements included in each SIB may be different. For example, SIB1 transmitted on a normal non-CE mode PHY channel may not include paging/RACH information related to CE mode and vice versa. If the UE 115 switches between normal mode and CE mode, it must decode SIB1-BR to be able to monitor paging and perform RACH.

Thus, to simplify the implementation of UE 115 and reduce latency, both SIB1 and SIB1-BR broadcast from base station 105 may contain paging parameters for both normal coverage and extended coverage. Some key parameters optionally included in SIB1 but required for other modes (e.g., CE mode) may be included so that SIB1-BR need not be read if SIB1 is read in normal mode.

With additional available modes, any additional parameters to be used for those other modes may also be included in SIB 1. Thus, switching to the new mode may not require additional time to decode the corresponding SIB for the particular paging parameter.

Fig. 7 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks that are performed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure. At block 700, a UE detects data for uplink communication. For example, a UE such as UE 115 determines that it has data for uplink communications. There may be scenarios in which the UE 115 is in normal coverage based on downlink measurements. However, random Access Channel (RACH) attempts for uplink communications using the normal mode fail because uplink coverage more requires extended coverage.

At block 701, the UE performs RACH according to a non-CE mode. For example, in the further aspect of fig. 7, the UE 115 will first attempt RACH in the normal non-CE mode. At block 702, the UE determines a failure of a random access procedure. Once UE 115 attempts RACH in normal mode, it detects RACH failure. Each RACH attempt may include multiple PRACH transmissions with varying power levels and if a random access response is received corresponding to the PRACH, the RACH attempt will be considered successful. After a certain number of attempts to RACH have failed or RACH has failed within a certain amount of time, RACH procedure failure may be declared. In one aspect, in normal mode, the UE 115 monitors on the PDCCH for a random access response (e.g., PRACH) from a base station such as the base station 105. In another aspect, in CE mode, the UE 115 monitors the PRACH on the N-PDCCH. At block 703, when RACH failure is detected in the non-CE mode, the UE 115 performs a random access procedure according to the CE mode.

In one aspect, to reduce delay, the UE 115 may use previous channel condition measurements and a history of RACH success with the base station 105 to perform RACH directly in CE mode. Thus, when a check of previous channel conditions and previous RACH success in non-CE mode or CE mode indicates that UE 115 may be more likely to have RACH success with base station 105 in CE mode, UE 115 will switch to CE mode first instead of attempting non-CE mode RACH first.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks that are performed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure. In further aspects of the disclosure, if the UE is capable of simultaneous RACH, it may attempt simultaneous RACH in multiple modes (e.g., CE and non-CE modes).

At block 800, the UE detects data available for uplink transmission. At block 801, the UE performs RACH procedures according to both CE mode and non-CE mode. For example, the UE 115 having data for uplink transmission performs RACH on both CE and non-CE modes. At block 802, a determination is made as to whether to detect a response on only one of the modes or on both modes. If only one response is detected, at block 803, communication is initiated depending on which of the CE mode or non-CE mode the response is detected. For example, if the UE 115 detects a response to RACH performed on CE mode, communication will be initiated on CE mode. If the UE 115 detects a response to the RACH on the non-CE mode, communication will instead be initiated on that mode.

If a response is detected on both modes at block 802, the UE initiates communication according to the non-CE mode at block 804. For example, if the UE 115 detects a response on both modes, the non-CE mode may take precedence over the CE mode due to the larger bandwidth and/or larger data rate available on the normal mode.

Currently, extended coverage enhancements introduced in machine type standards are defined for narrowband operations. Thus, UEs/base stations operating in coverage enhancement mode will rely on narrowband communications. In the case of NB-IoT, these narrowband channels span only 180kHz. Thus, in order for a UE such as a smart phone to support coverage enhancement, the UE will need to support a specific narrowband. One procedure within NB-IoT to increase coverage enhancement is to provide duplicate uplink and downlink transmissions. Thus, transmissions, such as PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, etc., are repeatedly transmitted according to the repetition factor using the repetition factor transmitted between the UE and the base station.

Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks that are performed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure. At block 900, the UE detects a channel coverage condition below a selected threshold level. For example, UE 115 makes channel measurements and performs measurements of the communication conditions it experiences at its location in the vicinity of base station 105.

At block 901, the UE signals a coverage extension condition to a serving base station in response to poor channel coverage. For example, UE 115 signals to base station 105 that the channel conditions are so poor that coverage extension conditions exist.

At block 902, in response to signaling the coverage extension condition, the UE receives a duplicate copy of the transmission from the serving base station, wherein the duplicate copy is repeated with a selected repetition factor. In one aspect of the present disclosure, instead of requiring the UE 115 to switch modes to improve coverage, the repetition factor for the existing channel is increased in the current normal mode in order to experience enhanced coverage in the current normal mode. For example, instead of supporting both ePDCCH for normal coverage and NPDCCH for extended coverage, the modem of UE 115 may simply support ePDCCH and duplicate ePDCCH. This may simplify the receiver design and reduce the receiver cost. The bonded channel subject to repeated transmissions includes one or more of: PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, PRACH, PBCH, PSS, SSS. The repetition factor may be predetermined and transmitted in a control message between the UE 115 and the base station 105.

Additional features for machine type enhanced coverage criteria include supporting frequency hopping with narrowband frequencies to reduce transmission congestion. To support frequency hopping with narrowband frequencies, current NB-IoT or eMTC devices will typically perform frequency retuning. Therefore, gaps are typically introduced between frequency hops to allow the device to tune to a new frequency. However, a more advanced UE (e.g., a non-machine type device) may have baseband processing capabilities that support wideband frequencies. Accordingly, further aspects of the present disclosure provide for conventional UEs to define the same narrowband hopping signaling between the wideband bandwidth capabilities of the UE. Thus, such UEs may transmit in narrowband frequency hops without inserting a retuning gap. Thus, different groups of UEs may perform narrowband hopping in different ways, depending on the UE capabilities. Weaker machine type UEs transmit with retuning gaps, while other more capable UEs transmit without retuning gaps.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating example blocks that are performed to implement an aspect of the present disclosure. Example blocks will also be described with respect to a UE 115 as shown in fig. 12.

At block 1000, the UE determines that coverage status of the UE supports narrowband hopping for transmission, wherein narrowband hopping includes uplink transmission of data without gaps between hopped frequencies. For example, under control of the controller/processor 280, the UE 115 may activate narrowband hopping 1204 stored in the memory 282. The execution environment of narrowband hopping 1204 allows UE 115 to perform various measurements to determine channel conditions and connection conditions at its current location, and to determine whether those coverage conditions support narrowband hopping for transmission. The UE 115 may be a conventional smart phone capable of advanced communication operations in LTE-a.

At block 1001, the UE may indicate, in response to the determination, that the UE is configured with capabilities to support narrowband hopping without gaps. For example, under control of the controller/processor 280, the UE 115 may indicate that the UE is configured with the capability to support narrowband frequency hopping. In addition, because the UE 115 is able to handle wideband baseband processing, there is no need to continuously retune frequencies for each hopped frequency because each of these hopped frequencies falls within the total wideband bandwidth available to the UE 115.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The functional blocks and modules in fig. 5-12 may include the following: a processor, an electronic device, a hardware device, an electronic component, a logic circuit, a memory, software code, firmware code, etc., or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure. The skilled artisan will also readily recognize that the order or combination of components, methods, or interactions described herein are merely examples, and that components, methods, or interactions of the various aspects of the disclosure may be combined or performed in a different manner than those shown and described herein.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the disclosure herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more exemplary designs, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Computer readable storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer or general purpose or special purpose processor. Further, the connection may be properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, or DSL are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes Compact Disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital Versatile Disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

As used herein (including in the claims), the term "and/or" when used in a list of two or more items means that any one of the listed items can be employed alone or any combination of two or more of the listed items can be employed. For example, if a composition is described as comprising components A, B and/or C, the composition may comprise: only A; only B; only C; a combination of A and B; a combination of a and C; a combination of B and C; or a combination of A, B and C. Furthermore, as used herein (including in the claims), an "or" as used in a list of items ending in "at least one of" indicates a separate list, such that, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B or C" means a or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., a and B and C) or any combination of any of these items.

The previous description of the disclosure is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosure will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other variations without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is not intended to be limited to the examples and designs described herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, comprising:

at a User Equipment (UE), receiving a message from a serving base station, the message including a first paging or channel parameter corresponding to a Coverage Enhancement (CE) mode and a second paging or channel parameter corresponding to a non-CE mode;

switching, at the UE in idle mode, an overlay mode between the CE mode and the non-CE mode;

monitoring for a first page according to the CE mode and for a second page according to the non-CE mode;

prioritizing the first page and the second page based on at least one priority condition of the CE mode and the non-CE mode; and

communication is initiated according to a mode associated with a higher priority page of the first page and the second page.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a mode indicator, wherein the mode indicator identifies the coverage mode to which the UE is switched;

wherein the generating the mode indicator comprises:

establishing a new Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection; and

a virtual non-access stratum (NAS) message is generated, wherein the virtual NAS message represents the mode indicator.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the generating the mode indicator comprises:

a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message is generated, wherein the RRC message includes the mode indicator for a Mobility Management Entity (MME).

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: a quality measurement of a channel condition of the UE is performed at the UE, wherein the switching the coverage mode is based on the quality measurement.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: the first page or the second page is received at the UE according to the coverage mode identified by the mode indicator.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the overlay mode switches from the non-CE mode to the CE mode.

7. An apparatus configured for wireless communication, the apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory coupled to the at least one processor,

wherein the at least one processor is configured to:

Switching, at a UE in idle mode, an overlay mode between the CE mode and the non-CE mode;

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to generate a mode indicator, wherein the mode indicator identifies the coverage mode to which the UE is switched;

wherein generating the mode indicator comprises:

establishing a new Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection; and

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein generating the mode indicator comprises:

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: a quality measurement of a channel condition of the UE is performed at the UE, wherein the switching the coverage mode is based on the quality measurement.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: the first page or the second page is received at the UE according to the coverage mode identified by the mode indicator.